Hello, Mr. 2019.

When I was a grade school student at Old Richmond Elementary School, one of our tasks in the classroom was to compose a letter to an adult that we knew, a relative or someone from the community. I chose my uncle who lived in Houston, Texas. Uncle Alfred worked for IBM and was on loan to Mission Control in the height of the Space Program. I thought it would be cool to ask him some questions about his work with computers and NASA.

Dear Uncle Alfred,

What do you do all day?

How big are the computers you use at your work?

What does the moon look like?

Do you know any astronauts?

As you might imagine, Uncle Alfred was amused at my questions and wrote back some general statements about his work, the need to keep some ideas secret, and how he liked being involved in something bigger than himself.

2019 might say the same thing to us if we could write the New Year a letter. 2019 is a collection of days, dates, times, and appointments. Some of those things we know are pretty much standard: work, family, church, community, etc. Some of the information in 2019 is “secret,” I suppose. Our God holds the days and moments of our lives in His Hands. As Scripture reminds us, no thoughts known to humankind are secret before an all-knowing God. And like my Uncle Alfred, I would like to hope that what we do, individually and collectively as a church, will influence a world much bigger than any one of us.

Our prayer for all who read this column is simple. Take time to examine the coming days and be of service to our Lord and Savior, be attentive to those that you love, be mindful of the stranger and sojourner in our midst, and find the Peace of Christ in your daily walk in the coming days.